IKT Congress 2022: Podcast series with Cathy Byrd
Cathy Byrd is a globally engaged contemporary art curator, writer, and educator. She launched Fresh Art International podcast in 2011, to witness, record, and archive art histories.
Listen to the three episodes in the IKT Kentucky series recorded during IKT Congress 2022.
CURATORS DECLARE INDEPENDENCE AT IKT KENTUCKY
With six independent curators, we explore a growing trend in the field of contemporary art. We discover that the Covid epidemic and a global economic recession have not weakened their resolve to navigate the field on their own terms. Viewing challenges as opportunities, these women are channeling their creative freedom into projects that maximize resources and engage new communities.
What sparked this story: In September 2022, the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art welcomed more than 40 new members during IKT’s annual Congress in Kentucky. Most are independent curators. Listen to find out what motivated this shift.
Featuring: Monique Long, Juste Kostikovaite, Lindsey Cummins, Amethyst Rey Beaver, Sarah Burney, Claire Schneider
Sound Design: Anamnesis Audio | Music: Danver County by Blue Dot Sessions
LURE OF LOCAL ARTS IN APPALACHIA
In 2022, members and guests of the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art make their way to Kentucky, in the United States. Our first days are packed with urban experiences — museum, gallery, private collection, and studio visits, a symposium — and sunset tours of two outdoor sculpture collections.
A small group continues the adventure on a road trip that takes us to the far eastern edge of Kentucky. As we cross the state, we learn firsthand the challenges of growing up and producing culture in Appalachia. We bear witness to creative resilience and community in remote spaces and places where rich stories are told through art, film, music, and theater.
Voices: Orlando Maiike Gouwenberg, Jessica Bennett Kincaid, Carolina Rubens, Jeff Chapman Crane, Sharman Crane, Kate Handslik
Sound Design: Anamnesis Audio
Music: Danver County by Blue Dot Sessions
Earl Gilmore – This Little Light of Mine, on “From the Depths of my Soul”, 1977, June Appal Recordings
Nimrod Workman & Phyllis Boyens – I am a Travelin’ Creature, on “Passing Through the Garden,” 1974, June Appal Recordings
Pigmeat Jarret – Look at the People (Little Girl), on “Look at the People,” 1979, June Appal Recordings
Ralph Stanley – I am a Man of Constant Sorrow
Sarah Kate Morgan – Goodbye My Honey I’m Gone, on “Old Tunes & Sad Songs,” 2022, self-release
Sparky Rucker – Come on in my Kitchen, on “Cold & Lonesome on a Train,” 1977, June Appal Recordings
Special Sound: Stranger with a Camera, Elizabeth Barrett, 2000, Appalshop; Shift Change, 2021, Higher Ground Theater
GLOBAL APPALACHIA—WHERE CULTURE AND GEOGRAPHY SHAPE COMMUNITY
In 2022, members and guests of the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art (IKT) travel from around the world to Kentucky, in the Appalachian region of the United States. The uninitiated might consider this a remote context for conversations around international contemporary art. Instead, we find Appalachia a nuanced cultural and geographic space.
The third episode in our IKT Kentucky series explores the evolving and inclusive concept of “Global Appalachia” presented during IKT’s 2022 gathering. Generations of curators, poets, and artists from a world of cultures have found their way across time and space to build communities in this region. Here and now, Global Appalachia is where their 21st century contemporaries continue to shape a boundless future, with a diverse array of perspectives on the meaning of home and tradition.
Sound Design: Anamnesis Audio
Music: Delving the Deep by BlueDot Sessions, Gettie’s Wash by Blue Dot Sessions, Tan Mountain by Blue Dot Sessions
Voices: Rebecca Adkins Fletcher, Frank X Walker, Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido, Vian Sora, Ceirra Evans, Anissa Lewis, Hannah Drake, Karlota Contreras Koterbay, Erin Lee Antonak